Scottish company looks to the future

Scottish construction company looks to the future

Established Scottish construction and plant hire company, D.G. Heuchan have decided to offer added value to their excavator fleet by including a crushing bucket option to the hire package

Founded in 1992 and based in Castle Douglas in Kirkudbrightshire, D.E. Heuchan is an established construction and plant hire company operating throughout Dumfries and Galloway.

To help set the company apart from rivals, Director Donald Heuchan, explained, “We needed to think laterally to see how we could give the company an edge over our competitors. After a visit to SED to look at alternative equipment , we came across the Dig A Crusher bucket attachments and realised they would be a very suitable addition to the excavator fleet. However, to make sure the attachment lived up to the claims of the company, we had one delivered on a hire to buy demonstration basis so that we could really put it through its paces. It spent a good deal of time in our own recycling yard where there was a mountain of whinstone to be processed. Whinstone is a particularly hard and abrasive igneous rock, prevalent throughout the area, our biggest problem is what to do with it when it is produced as a waste product at the end of a project. Usually it is removed and stockpiled until it can be processed by a hired in large mobile crushing plant. Now we have the option of processing the material on site as we go along, which hugely decreases vehicle movements, saving fuel and freeing up space at our yard. The biggest advantage we now have, is that a by-product, normally regarded as waste, can be economically processed and recycled as a 50mm type 1 sub-base material.”

Ease Of Use

Recently the DAC 900 proved its worth on an agricultural project where a huge slurry tank had to be installed at a local farm. To comply with EU rules, slurry is no longer allowed to simply drain away, it has to be collected and processed, the use of the DAC 900 provided a very useful solution to the installation as Donald Heuchan, explained, “Our new JCB JS 260 XD made short work of the rock that need to be excavated for the tank. However, rather than haul the waste away, we removed the standard JCB bucket and fitted the Dig A Crusher 900 crushing bucket in a matter of minutes to process the rock. This proved a very economic solution as the crushed material was put to good use as the base to the tank, the remainder left on site for the farmer to improve roads and paths.”

He continued, “This is a new concept for ourselves and our customers. It is certainly the first Dig A Crusher attachment in the area and it is now starting to become part of the hire package as it can be delivered along with the excavator. This is so customers can get a first hand idea of what it is capable of. The reaction has been very positive and I expect the demand to greatly increase now that customers realise the recycling possibilities and economic advantages of using the crushing bucket.”